Distributing large bell for blast furnaces



Feb. 28, 1933.

A. J. BOY NTON ET AL DISTRIBUTING LARGE BELL FOR BLAST FURNACES Filed Aug. 51, 19:51 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Feb. 28, 1933. A.J. BOYNTON ET AL DISTRIBUTING BELL FOR BLAST FURNACES Filed Aug. 51, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb. 28, 1933. A. J. BOYNTON ETAL DISTRIBUTING LARGE BELL FOR BLAST FURNAGES 4 SheetsSheet 5 Filed Aug. 51, 1951 v 2 0 2 a o l U WWI. m n q 0 6 07+ m 41 m WWW 0 I il I llllll w fimm .c .n a, m Aw I. z J t "H m 4 fiolml 0 W w 7 9 Z 9 M w w 9 a w 1 m w \\/%//a 1933- A.,J. BOYNTON ET AL 1,399,307

DISTRIBUTING LARGE BELL FDR BLAST FURNACES Fil ed Aug. 51, 1931 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 fnberzZ ors 5 PM Zb'mmerr'zza zrz,

STATE Patented Feb." 28,, 1933 i PATENT OFFICE;

mam 1., noyn'ronnmi PAUL ZIMMER-MANN, orcn cAeo, iLLINQIs, assrenons 'ro n. VALBBASSERT acoMrANY; or cnroaeo, Inrlmorscoarona'rron or ILLINOIS,

,1 DISTRIBUTING LARGEBELII ronBLAsT FURNACES,

' Application'filed August 31, 1931'. Serial No. 560,301.

This invention relates to improvements blast furnace apparatus and particularly to the construction and control of the distribut- I ing large bell;-

mIt is an object of the present invention to provide adistributing large bell in a blast furnace which consists of two parts each of which is, of a conical shape and provided with aradialcut-out portion in its marginal edge, whereby, by; relative rotation of the parts of the bell, the effective size of a distributing opening may be adjusted.

1, His further an object of the' present in-- ventiontto provide meanstor'adjusting the effective size of the distributing opening in the large bell from the, exterior 1 of the blast furnace without removal of the bell or hopstoodfrom the following description taken in connection with the, attached drawings, in:

whichi- Figure 1 is an televation partially in section illustratin the operating means for the blast,

I furnacebells; I

I Figure 2 is an elevation partially'in sec-c tion takentransv'erse to Figure 1;

planeindicated 1H onFigure 3 ;v

portion of :the driving mechanism; Figure 4 isa crosssection takenxon Figure-5-1san elevatlon, partially in section and; further "illustrating diagrammatically :circuit connections tor an indi- Figure 6isj an enlarged cross section on the plane 6-6 of Figure 5; Figure 7 s an enlarged section on the plane indicated 7' 7 inFigurefiy T i distribution. Asshown in Figure the lowerbell12 has a circular groove .16 adapted to cooperate Figure 8 is an enlarged section taken on the plane indicated 8' 8 in Figure 5;

Figure 9 is a plan view illustrating a pair of bells togetherv constituting the distributing valve; 1 c

Figure 10 is a vertical section indicated on the plane indicated 10-10 in Figure 9; r I

I Figure 11 is a plan view similar to Figure '9 illustrating a modified construction of thec bells; a i

' Figure 12 is a vertical section indicated on the plane 1212 in Figure 11, and r Figure 13 is a vertical section indicated on v the plane 1313-in Figure 11. i

7 An important feature of the present invention relates to the improved construction of the distributing valve ina blast furnace. As

shown in Figures 9 and 10 we employ an upper conical valve 10 and a lower conical valve 12, each of which has a cut-out portion 14 in its marginal edge extending approxi+ mately of the circumference. The bells 10 and 12 are co-axiallyassociated and arranged for relative rotation whereby the effective size of a distributing opening, determined by the relative positions of the semi circular cut-out portions in the marginal edges of the bells 10 and 12, may be varied as bells 10 and 12 are associated towardsthe cen-v tral part of the furnace to obtain a more evenwith a circular ridge 18 011 the inner surface I of the upper bell lO to center the bells with respect to each other. 1 The lower bell 12 has Figure 3 is an 'enlarged'detail section of a I pivotally connected thereto a yoke 20 which t in turn ispivotallyconnected to a tubular operating member 26.

A modified construction ofthe bell is diseach provided without-out portions;1 l',each

ings may be closed entirely or varied, as desired.

Figures 1 to 4 inclusive show an installation with the improved large bell construction, such as disclosed in Figures 11 to 13, in association with a blast furnace and operating means for the valves. The top portion of a blast furnace 28 is shown, having at the top a chute 30 extending througha hood 32 closing the top of the hopper 14. 10 is the upper bell valve and 12 is the lower bell which is relatively rotatable to vary the size of the distributing openings. The small bell valve34 controls the discharge from thechute 30 into the hopper 14 and is operative by a sleeve 36 in the usual manner through operating rods 88 to control the opening and closing of the valve 34. The rod'22 and the tube26 extendthrough the sleeve- 36. The rod 22 is threaded at its upper end to a bearing flange 38 which rests upon ball bearings 40 seating upon a housing flange 42 which issecured to the tube 26. The flange 38 has an upper cross shaped extension 44 provided with radial holes 46 which permit the insertion of auxiliary bars for the manual rotation of the flange 38 together with the rod 22 and the lower bell 12.

In this construction the adjustment of the distributing openings by the relative rota tion of the bell 12 with respect to the bell 10 is intended to be more or less permanent but may be manually. modified, if found necessary. The flange 38, when in proper position, is secured to the flange 42 by bolts 48. The two bells are then securedfor rotation as a unit. The flange 42 is secured by bolts 50 to an upper suspended flange 52. The space including the adjustable mechanism is enclosed by a cylindrical housing 54.

The supporting flange 52 rests upon ball bearings 56 which in turn rest upon the collar 58 of a raising and lowering shaft 60. The flange 52 is free to rotatewith respect to the shaft 60 andhas secured to its upper side,

- through flange 62, a wide-facedgear 64 which cooperates 1n meshing relation with a spur gear 66 during its Vertical. sliding movement. The spur gear 66 is carried by shaft 68, driven from shaft 70 through bevel gears 724-74. The shaft 70 is driven by motor 76 which is distributing opening by rotating the lower bell .12 with respect to the upper bell 10 and,

in this arrangement, indicating means-is dis- The modified arrangement shown in. Fig-. ures 5 to 8, inclusive, includes driving means for changing at wlll the relative size of. the

closed for visibly indicating the size of the distributing opening at various times.

The driving mechanism comprises a motor 76, speed reducer 78, flexible coupling 80, driving shaft and beveled gears 7274, substantially the same as in Figures 1 and 3. The vertical shaft 90 however which is driven from the gear 74 is a divided shaft, the lower part 90' being connected to the upper part 90 through a magnetic clutch 92. part 90 of the shaft has a spur gear 94 secured thereto and the lower part 90 has a similar spur gear 96. The rod 22 is provided with a collar 98 which supports a flange 100 and above the flange 100* there is secured to the rod 22 a wide-faced gear 102 corresponding to the gear 64 inthe previous construction.

As shown in the detail Figures 6 and 7, the gear 102 is split into two semi-circular sectors 104 and 106 in order to permit a ready replacement of the gear 102, if so desired. The rod 22 is supported by a bearing collar 108 atits upper end which rests upon ball bearings 110 and flange 112 which is secured to flange 114 and the raising and lowering rod 60 provided with a. squared guide portion 82.

' The gear 102 is in meshing relation with the spur gear 94 throughout its vertical sliding movement. The tube 26 which is secured to the upper belll0' is suspended from flange 116 which in turn is secured to flange 118 resting upon the flange 100 through ball bearings 120. The tube 26' is therefore free to have relative rotation with respect to the rod 22. A wide-faced split gear 122, constructed similar to gear 64, is secured to the tube 26 immediately below the flange 116 and is in meshing relation with the spur gear 96.

It will-be understood that so long as the clutch 92 is engaged, thegears 94 and 96 will rotate together and therefore rotate the parts 10 and 12 of the large bell together. At any time however the operator, by releasing. the clutch 92 thereby cutting out the drive to spur gear 96,may cause the lower bell 12 to rotate ahead of the bell valve 10 and thus. Vary the size of the distributing opening. This adjustment may be obtained without stopping the operation of the blast furnace.

lVe have disclosed in Figure 5 a diagram matic system for visually indicating to the operator the relative size of the distributing opening of the large bell in the blast furnace. A pair of motors 124 and 126 are coupled respectively to the divided shaft parts 90 and 90 and aresynchronized with a pair of motors 128 and 130 which may be placed at any desired point and connected'through circuit connections 132. Alsource of A. C. current is shown at 134. The motors 124-126 are transmitters and the motors'128-130 are receivers and'form'a part of the indicating mechanism. The motors 128-130 are coupled through gearing 136 to drive a pair of The upper operator is able to see at a glance members having a radial cut-out portion in its marginal edge which cooperate with each other to distribute material discharged into the blast furnace, a tubular raising and lowering member secured to the upper conical member, a rod rotatable within said tube secured to the lower-conical member, means for rotating said tubular member and rod as a unit and means for interrupting the rotation of said rod While said tubular member continues to rotate to vary the effective size of the distributing opening.

2. In a blast furnace, a distributing large bell valve comprising a pair of co-axially positioned conical members, each of said conical members, having a radial cut-out portion in its lower marginal edge which cooperate to provide a variable distributing opening in the large bell, means for raising and lower- 7 ing the large bell, means for rotating the conical members comprising the large bell and means for interrupting the rotationof one of saidconical members while the other of said conical members continues to'rotate to vary the effective size of the distributing: opening in the large bell.

3. In combination with a blast furnace, a distributing large bell having an adjustable distributing openingv in its lower marginal edge, means for varying the effectivesize of the distributing opening without interrupting the operation of the blast furnaceand means for visibly indicating the relative size of the distributingopening in the large bell at'a point remote fromthe blast furnace au tomatically during the operationthereof.

4. In combination with a blast furnace, a distributing large bell comprising apair of cooperating conical members relatively ro tatable to vary-the distribution ofmat'erial into said blast furnace, a rotatable shaft secured to each of said conical members extending vertically upward from the top of the blast furnace, a drive shaft for rotating said shafts, a clutch in said drive shaft and means gearingfsaid shafts to said drive-shaft on tribution of material in said blast furnace, a

drive shaft,means for rotating one of saidconical members directly from said drive shaft, means. including a clutch coupling the other of said conical members for rotationto' said drive shaft and electrical indicating means for visibly indicating the relative position of said conical members at a point remote from the blast furnace.

6. In combination with a blast furnace, a

distributing large bell valve in said blast fur- I nace composed of a pair of relatively rotatable conical members adjustable to vary the distribution of material in'said blast furnace, V

a drive shaft, means for rotating one of said conical members from said drive shaft, f

means for rotating the other ofsaid conical members from said drive shaft in the same direction whereby said conical members normally rotate as a unit and clutchcmeans. for

interrupting the rotation of one of said conical members to produce relative rotation therebetween and vary the distribution of material in'the blast furnace.

7. In combination with a blast furnace, a

distributing large bell valve in said blast furnace composed of a pair ofconical members, each of which has a cut-out portion for'controlling the distribution of material in said I normally rotatable asa unitbut capable of relative rotation to vary the effective 00- blastfurnace, (said conical, members being operation of the distributing openings, driving means for both of said'conicalmembers, clutch means for interrupting the, rotation of one of said conical members to produce relative rotation therebetween, indicating means including a pair of disc members having cut-out portions proportionate to said 7 conical members and means for rotating said disk'members at speeds proportional to the rotation of said conical members whereby the effective. distribution of material by said conical. members in saidfblast furnace is visibly indicated.

Signed at Chicago, Illinois, this 24th day of August, 1931. 7

, ARTHUR J. BOYNTON.

. PAUL ZIMMERMANN.

opposite sides of said clutch whereby the relative rotative position i of said "conical memplers may be adjusted by control of said clutc I 5. In combinationwithfa blast furnace, a I

distributing large bell in said blast furnace composed of a pair of relatively rotatable conical members adjustable to vary the dis? 

